Tesco Clubcard Plus Card: Fees, Clubcard Points and Transfers

The Tesco Clubcard Plus credit card is a Tesco Bank credit card that doubles as your Clubcard, and it is only open to people who pay for a Clubcard Plus subscription. Tesco Bank states that you must hold an active Clubcard Plus subscription to apply for this credit card, and that you need Clubcard Plus to benefit from it¹. The subscription is a separate monthly cost, not part of your card bill².

What you get for that is a card with no foreign exchange fee, which is unusual among Tesco Bank's cards: its other credit cards charge 2.75% on transactions in a foreign currency³.

The trade-off is the subscription. The card stays open, but the reason to hold it largely goes. Tesco Bank's own site carries today's figures for the subscription, the fees and the points.

What it is and who it is for

This is a rewards credit card tied to a paid loyalty subscription. Tesco Bank describes the card as also being your Clubcard, so when you spend on it you collect your usual Clubcard points plus extra ones⁶.

That structure tells you who it tends to suit by circumstance. Someone who already pays for Clubcard Plus, shops at Tesco regularly and wants a card that collects points on spending elsewhere is getting the card's benefit without taking on a new cost. Someone who does not have the subscription would be taking on a monthly fee to hold the card at all, and would need to weigh that against the points and the absence of a foreign exchange fee.

It is a credit card, not a charge card or a store card. That matters for what protects you: purchases on it fall within Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, under which the card provider is jointly liable with the retailer for any breach of contract or misrepresentation⁷. The card is issued within the Mastercard and Visa schemes that UK credit cards are tied to⁸.

Tesco Bank's wider card range includes balance transfer, money transfer, credit builder and premium cards, and the Clubcard Plus card sits alongside them rather than replacing them⁹. If you are weighing up whether a rewards card or a different type of card fits better, types of credit card sets the options side by side, and rewards and cashback credit cards explains how points schemes generally work.

How it works

The card works like any other credit card for spending, and like a loyalty card for earning. Tesco Bank says that when you open a credit card account with it you are automatically enrolled into the Clubcard scheme if you are not already a member⁹. So the card in your wallet is doing two jobs: it is the borrowing facility and it is the Clubcard you scan.

Points accrue at 1 Clubcard point for every £8 spent outside Tesco⁴. Tesco Bank does not set what a point is worth; that is Tesco Clubcard's business, and the value of a point is not something the bank's card documents state. What the bank does state is the earning rate on the card.

The card also carries the ordinary mechanics of a credit card account. You get a monthly statement, a minimum payment due each month, and an interest-free period on purchases. Tesco Bank notes that there is no interest-free period on cash withdrawals³, which is standard across the market and means cash taken out on the card starts costing interest immediately.

If you hold the card and want to manage it, Tesco Bank's app is the main route. The bank says it has 2.4 million customers managing their money with its Mobile Banking App⁹, and there are 4 ways to pay your credit card using the app¹⁰. Only primary cardholders can view a credit card account in the app, so an additional cardholder cannot see the account themselves⁵.

How the fees and charges work

The headline cost of this card is not a card fee at all: it is the Clubcard Plus subscription. Tesco Bank states that you pay £7.99 a month for your Clubcard Plus subscription², and that you must hold an active subscription to apply for this credit card¹. That is a charge to Tesco for the loyalty programme, separate from anything on your credit card statement.

On the card itself, the fee structure is thin. Across its credit cards generally, the bank says you will not be charged a fee if you go over your credit limit², and that you will be charged £12.00 if you do not make your minimum payment on time². One quirk worth knowing: if you applied for your Clubcard Plus Credit Card before 21 July 2020 you will not be charged a late payment fee².

The foreign exchange position is the card's main financial feature. The summary box lists no foreign exchange fee¹.

Other charges apply across the range and are worth checking against your own use:

• Cash transactions: a 3.99% fee, and cash transactions include gambling and buying non-sterling currency outside Tesco²
• Balance transfers: a 3.99% handling fee if you transfer to an existing Tesco Bank credit card at the standard rate²
• Money transfers: a 3.99% handling fee from an existing Tesco Bank credit card at the standard rate²
• Interest on default fees: charged 28 days from when the bank tells you the fee has been charged, at the purchase rate, with no interest charged on that interest¹¹

The provider's site has today's figures for the subscription, the fees and any promotional terms, and those are the ones that apply to your account.

Who can apply and how to apply

Tesco Bank credit cards are available to UK residents aged 18 and over, subject to status¹². For this card there is a second condition: you need an active Clubcard Plus subscription, and the bank states plainly that you must hold one to apply¹.

Applying is done through Tesco Bank. The bank says you will receive your card 5 to 7 days after your application is accepted, along with your terms and conditions⁹. If you request a balance transfer during your credit card application, the card must be activated within 60 days for the transfer to be processed¹².

A few practical points about the account once it is open:

• Additional cardholders: you can add someone to the account, and if the account is closed an additional cardholder will no longer be able to use their card and will need to apply for a new account to stay with Tesco Bank¹³
• Third party access: you can add a third party to your credit card to act on your behalf, usually done if you need short term support with your finances¹⁴
• Bereavement: Tesco Bank has a dedicated bereavement support route for closing or transferring an account after a death⁶
• Closing the card: Tesco Bank provides a specific process for closing a credit card¹⁵

If you are new to credit cards or comparing how applications work across providers, applying for a credit card covers what lenders look at and what a decision in principle does. Additional cardholders and third party authority explains who is liable for what when someone else spends on your account, and cancelling or closing a credit card sets out what closing an account does to your credit file.

How your money is protected

Two separate protections apply to this card, and they cover different things.

The first is Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Under it, the credit card company is jointly and severally liable for any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the company you bought from⁷. Tesco Bank states that under Section 75 you could get extra protection if something goes wrong on single purchases between £100 and £30,000¹². The Financial Ombudsman Service confirms the cover extends to purchases made by credit card, by a point-of-sale loan arranged by the retailer, or by other finance¹⁶.

The second is protection against fraud on the card itself. Tesco Bank says that if your Tesco Bank credit card is lost, stolen or charged incorrectly you are protected, and that it monitors transactions and can block the card¹⁷.

Where the protection stops matters as much as where it starts:

• Money transfers are excluded. Tesco Bank states that purchases made using money that has been transferred will not benefit from protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974⁹. If you move cash to your bank account and spend it, you have no Section 75 claim on what you bought.
• Cash withdrawals are not purchases. There is no interest-free period on cash withdrawals³, and a withdrawal is not a purchase from a retailer, so Section 75 does not apply to it.
• Bank transfers are weaker than cards. Guidance for consumers is that paying by credit card, where the amount is more than £100, gives more protection than a bank transfer¹⁸, and that your money is not protected unless you pay by credit card or Direct Debit¹⁹.
• Chargeback is separate. Chargeback applies to both credit and debit card purchases of any value, through voluntary industry schemes run by Amex, Mastercard and Visa²⁰. It is a different route from Section 75 and works on a different basis.

Section 75 makes the card provider jointly liable with the retailer, so a claim can go to either.

If you are unsure which route fits your situation, Section 75 explains the cover in full, chargeback explains the alternative, and Section 75 or chargeback compares the two.

Problems, complaints and getting help

Credit cards generate a lot of complaints, and this one is no different in kind. The Financial Ombudsman Service recorded 5,783 new credit card complaints in Q1 2026/27, alongside 129 about store card accounts, 62 about business credit cards, 757 about debit cards and 19 about pre-paid cards²¹. In the previous year, credit cards were the third most complained about product, with around 22,800 complaints in 2025/26²², and the most complained about issues in 2024/25 were irresponsible or unaffordable lending, administration or customer service, and complaints about Section 75²³.

If something goes wrong with the card, the route is the same as for any financial product. Complain to Tesco Bank first. If you are unhappy with the final response, or eight weeks pass without one, the complaint can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free and independent.

Common problems with a card like this, and where they lead:

• A disputed purchase. Section 75 may apply if the purchase was between £100 and £30,000 and paid for on the card¹². How to make a Section 75 claim sets out the steps.
• A fraudulent transaction. Tesco Bank monitors transactions and can block the card¹⁷. Credit card fraud and unauthorised payments explains what to do and what you can be asked to pay.
• Struggling with repayments. Help with credit card debt sets out the options, and debt in Scotland and debt in Northern Ireland cover where the rules differ.

Free, impartial help is available if money is tight. Citizens Advice can check whether a debt is one you have to pay, and City Advice at Toynbee Hall advises on credit and store cards, faulty goods, counterfeit goods, poor service and rogue traders²⁵. For anything about the card itself, complaining about a credit card provider covers how to escalate.